It sounds like Emelin has a good attitude about his situation and understands what he needs to work on, which is nice to read. Interesting that he mentions Spacek as someone who has been helping him out. I'm sure once Markov is practicing with the team he'll help the kid out too. Markov will start as our #5 defenceman, so pairing him with Emelin is ideal.

We'll have to give the kid another look at some point, but that will likely be determined on how he works in practice. I know a lot of people like Diaz, but he's also a rookie and should be the one to sit at some point to give Emelin another look, which I expect will happen.

I thought his attitude sounded promising as well. Having Markov around (who thought enough of Montreal to become a Canadian citizen) should help.

It's a bit too early to be jumping to conclusions, one way or the other.